Safety-guard for street-cars



(No Model.)

w. H. RICE.

SAFETY GUARD FOR STREET CARS.

Patented Aug. 28, 1894.

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J7; We 712 22? UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. RICE, or ROCHESTER, NEW YCRK.

SAFETY-GUARD FOR STREET-CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 525,115, dated August 28, 1894. Application filed November 21,1893- Serial No. 491.585. (No model.)

tures to those shown in the applicationof Stephen Norton, filed August 7, 1893, Serial No. 482,625.

The invention consists in the construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed. l

In the drawings-Figure 1 is a side elevatwo of one end of a street car with my improvement attached. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view of the front roller and its connections. Fig.4

is an enlarged side elevation of the insulated oint. Fig. 5 is an enlarged end elevation of the front roller and its attachments.

A lndicates the car, B the truck, and 0 one of the car wheels.

D is a cross bar attached to springs a a on the end of the car, said cross bar being padded and serving as a guard to prevent injury 1n case a person is thrown upon the guard.

E E are two side bars pivoted at b to the car and extending downward and outward.

F F are two supplementary bars pivoted at 0, whereby they can be turned up out of the way when desired. These two sets of bars form the frame of the attachment.

G G are two brace bars on opposite sides, plvoted at the rear end to bearings (1 attached to the truck, and at the 'front end to the side bars These brace bars form a fulcrum to the slde bars, whereby as the car vibrates up and down the outer end of the frame of the attachment is made to ride at a uniform ele- Vation above the track, notwithstanding the vibrations of the car.

H is a roller at the outer end of the attachber, or other insulating material, placed bement riding near the track.

I I is a flexible guard attached to and partially wound on the sprockets at one end, the opposite or upper end being attached either to the spring cross bar D, or to the end of the ment.

.car. Preferably the guard is composed of chains f f f and cross slats g g 9 attached thereto, as shown.

The roller H is made in two sectionsH and H'turning on a shaft h, which has its bearings in the supplementary bars F F, and between these sections and at the ends of the roller are sprockets k k it fast to the shaft, on which the chains run. These sprockets are circularbut are set eccentrically to the roller so that their tops are elevated above the top of the roller and their bottoms above the bot tom of the roller as shown in Fig. 5. By this means the chains are elevated above the roller at the points of junction, allowing the roller to run free and the wrapping of the ends of the chains around the sprockets also comes above the bottom of the roller, so that no contact shall come on'them at any. down vibration. The outer faces of the two end sprockets are hollow, and in them are located springs m, connected at one end to the sprocket and at the other to the frame. The tendency of these springs is to force the sprockets forward and hold the flexible guard under tensi0n,but in case a person is thrown upon the guard the springs allow the sprockets to yield and the guard to depress in concave form to hold the occupant.

g is a cross slat attached to the chains and resting in front of the roller, the same being padded or covered with soft material to break shock. To this cross slatare attachedsprings n, carrying at their outer ends a supplementary roller 10, which stands in advance of the other and at such position that, when struck,

it turns downward and fits closely over the 'traek. By this means the passage under the attachment is closed so that a person cannot go under the car.

It may be placed at any point,but, as shown in the drawings, is located at the joint between the brace bar G and side bar E. It may be .of any desired construction, but, as shown, consists of a block of lignum vitae, rubtween the bar E and a stay piece 8, andholding the brace bar G, which is clamped thereto by bolts, without coming in contact with the bar E. The insulator is held in place by a bolt '1), which passes through the same, forming also the pivot on which the parts turn. By this means the charge of electricity in the car truck is prevented from passing to the attachment.

Having described my invention I do not claim an attachment consisting of a supporting frame, a spring roller, and a flexible guard connecting the spring roller with the end of the car.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a safety guard for streetcars, the combination, withthe car, of a supporting frame a roller at the outer end of the frame provided with spring sprockets which stand eccentricaliy to the roller, and a flexible guard attached at one end to the sprockets and partially wound thereon, and at the other to the car, as and for the purpose specified.

2. In a safety guard for street cars, the combination, with the car, of a supporting frame,

a a roller at the outer end provided with sp rockets which stand eccentrically to the roller, the end sprockets being hollow forming cavities therein, springs located in the cavities connected at one end to the sprockets and at the other to the frame, and a flexible guard attached at one end to the sprockets and partially wound thereon, and at the other end to the car, as and for the purpose specified.

3. In a safety guard for street cars, the combination, with the car, of a supporting frame,

a roller at the outer end of the frame, a flexible guard attached at one end to the sprockets and at the other to the car, a cross bar forming a guard attached to the flexible guard in front of the roller, and a supplementary roller attached to the guard and projecting in front of the main roller, as and for the purpose specified.

4- In a safety guard for streetcars, the combination with the car, of a frame located in front of the car and connected with the truck, an electric insulator interposed in the connection between the frame and the truck to prevent the passage of electricity from the truck to the frame, and a guard attached to the frame, as and for the purpose specified.

5. In a safetyguard for street cars, the combination, with the car, of a frame located in front of the car, an insulator consisting of a block attached to the frame, a connection attached at one end to the insulator without contact with the frame, and at the other to the truck, and a safety guard attached to the frame, as shown and described and for the purpose specified.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WM. H. RICE. Witnesses:

R. F. OSGOOD, 0. L. JONES. 

